- Verdict of the European Court of Human Rights,
Strasbourg
- Campaigners celebrate 20 years of growing protests against
McWorld

Press Conference with McLibel 2 today - 11.30am outside McDonald's in The
StrandCentral London [by Charing X Stn]. The Strand store is chosen to mark
20 years of growing protests against McDonald's since the first ever 'Day
of Action against McDonald’s' on January 19th 1985, when London
Greenpeace held a protest outside that store.

This morning (15th February) the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg declared that the notorious and long running McLibel case was
in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of
expression. The McLibel 2 (Helen Steel, 39 & Dave
Morris, 50) had launched legal proceedings against the UK government
arguing that the marathon 'McLibel trial' which lasted 313 days - the
longest trial of any kind in English legal history - and UK libel laws,
breached the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 (right to a
fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression).

The European Court ruled that UK laws had failed to protect the public’s
right to criticise massive corporations whose business practices can
affect people’s lives, health and the environment.

The European case, known as Steel and Morris vs UK was launched on
20th September 2000, exactly 10 years after the McDonald’s Corporation
served writs on the McLibel 2 in an attempt to prevent the distribution
of leaflets criticising the company. The McLibel trial became the longest
case in English legal history, lasting 313-days, in which the McLibel 2
represented themselves against McDonald's. The trial and a 23-day appeal
in 1999, resulted in a mixed verdict in which damning rulings were made
against McDonald’s core business practices. The case was described by
commentators at the end of the trial as 'the worst Corporate PR
disaster in history'. Despite the rulings, no sanctions were ordered
against McDonald's, yet the McLibel 2 were ordered to pay the company
damages [See 'Background' below]. They have refused to pay a single
penny.

The McLibel 2 asserted in Strasbourg that English libel laws and libel
court procedures are incompatible with the convention. They and the UK
Government lodged hundreds of pages of written arguments on these
issues.

The European Court has now agreed that the McLibel defendants were denied
a fair trial due to the complex and oppressive nature of the UK libel
laws, and the lack of legal aid and resulting imbalance in resources
between them and McDonald’s

The McLibel 2 commented today:‘Having largely beaten McDonald's, and won some damning judgments
against them in our trial, we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive
and unfair UK laws. As a result of the European Court ruling today, the
government may be forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws.
We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny and criticism of
powerful organisations whose practices have a detrimental effect on
society and the environment.

' The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and widespread
grass roots protests and defiance can undermine those who try to silence
their critics, and also render oppressive laws unworkable. The
continually growing opposition to McDonald's and all it stands for is a
vindication of all the efforts of those around the world who have been
exposing and challenging the corporation's business practices.'

McLIBEL BACKGROUND McDonald's Corporation issued writs
against the McLibel 2 on 20th September 1990 alleging they had been
libelled in the London Greenpeace factsheet What's Wrong With
McDonald's? Everything they don’t want you to know. The McLibel
trial began 11 years ago on 28th June 1994. On June 19th 1997, after a
trial lasting 314 days (the longest trial ever in England), Mr Justice
Bell ruled that McDonald's marketing has "pretended to a
positive nutritional benefit which their food (high in fat & salt
etc) did not match"; that McDonald's "exploit
children" with their advertising strategy; are
"culpably responsible for animal cruelty"; and
"pay low wages, helping to depress wages in the catering
trade."

On March 31st 1999 the Court of Appeal added to those damning
findings. Lord Justices Pill, May and Keane ruled that it was fair
comment to say that McDonald's employees worldwide "do badly
in terms of pay and conditions", and true that
"if one eats enough McDonald's food, one's diet may well
become high in fat etc., with the very real risk of heart
disease." However the Courts ruled that the McLibel 2 had
still libelled McDonald's over some points and outrageously ordered them
to pay £40,000 damages to the $40 billion-dollar company. The McLibel 2
have refused to pay a penny.

The European Court of Human Rights hearing took place in Strasbourg on
7th September 2004.

Background info on the case, verdict and ECHR application is available by
visiting www.mcspotlight.org